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Civil, Mechanical and Industrial
Civil
infrastructure is the foundation of our society and has a widespread impact on
the quality of our daily lives.
Monitoring the safety and functionality of the world’s buildings,
bridges, and lifeline systems, is critical to improving maintenance practices,
minimizing the cost associated with repair and ultimately improving public
safety. Structural health monitoring
(SHM) systems provide a way for engineers to determine the overall health of a
given structure. SHM systems have the
ability to detect real-time damage or potential failure due to outside events,
In flight control and other critical control systems, robust control is often augmented by gain scheduling to provide slowly adaptive robust behavior across varying operating conditions. Even with the benefit of gain scheduling, however, robust control is unable to provide performance guarantees under conditions outside the preconfigured set of parameters. Furthermore, because developing a gain-scheduled controller requires developing and linking several independent controllers, the development process is
Background
Chemical binders used in asphalt paved surfaces are subject to age-hardening, resulting in increased stiffness over time, a major cause of cracking and the subsequent need for re-surfacing.
Vacuum insulation is an advanced thermal insulation technology that significantly outperforms conventional materials. Typically, vacuum insulation is 3 to 7 times better than conventional insulation of polyurethane foam, polystyrene foam, and fiberglass batting. A vacuum insulation panel (VIP) is the most common embodiment of vacuum insulation, of flat or sometimes shaped structures that, when holding a vacuum (often in the range of 0.1 to 1 millibar), provides the resistance to thermal conduction.
Proven to significantly reduce reflection cracking in asphalt concrete (AC), the Interlayer Stress-Absorbing Composite (ISAC) technology is available for licensing by commercial companies.
Developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ISAC is a three-layer composite that isolates the AC overlay from the pavement beneath it. Typical 2- to 3-inch thick AC overlays are susceptible to reflection cracking that is, propagation of cracks in the underlying pavement through the overlays.
Designed for use with supersonic aircraft, this invention efficiently, simply, and effectively controls shock/boundary-layer interaction (SBLI). SBLI is the interaction between supersonic shockwaves and the thin layer of air surrounding the aircraft (i.e., boundary layer). SBLI negatively impacts aircraft performance and longevity. This technology controls SBLI using an array of mesoflaps with a smart aeroelastic flap material. This variably deflecting array locally controls the boundary layer's thickness and shape factor and thus reduces shocks.
Ice formation and other surface contaminants frequently endanger aircraft by reducing their level of performance and maneuverability. This new sensing device improves the chances for aircraft pilots or autopilots to react, change flight controls to adjust to the situation, and avert accidents. Similar sensing systems exist; however, this system is a more efficient and better safeguard.
This system uses a sensor that measures the effects of the contaminant on the lifting surfaces, such as the wings of the aircraft, and relays this information to the pilot in real time.